1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a runner support for a skate, and more particularly, to a molded support for an ice skate blade.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Almost all ice hockey skates used today include a molded plastics blade support. Previously, ice skate blade supports were made of sheet metal and included a longitudinally extending tube to which the blade was fixed and two or more pedestals extending upwardly from the tube to be fastened to the sole of a skate boot. The sheet metal support was replaced by the molded plastics skate support because of the lower cost, and the market perception that the molded support is more acceptable to contemporary taste. Examples of such molded supports are illustrated in Canadian Patent 585,720, issued Oct. 27, 1959 to John E. Kirkpatrick et. al., and Canadian Patent 984,422, issued Feb. 24, 1976 to Hugh E. Baikie.
However, the known molded plastics support is inferior to the sheet metal version in several respects. For instance, in order to maintain the support light, unobtrusive, and streamlined, the longitudinal tube was essentially eliminated.
The support should lend lateral rigidity to the blade in order to minimize the absorption of energy during pronation and supination of the foot. The blade and the support are fixed relative to the sole of the skate boot; thus, the maximum reaction force should be transmitted to the body to propel the body forward. This is especially true in ice hockey where it is desirable to accomplish rapid acceleration and changes of direction.
Thus, in order to improve the molded support, it is important to design a support which approaches the rigidity of a sheet metal tube support while not increasing the weight of the molded support relative to the sheet metal blade.
Many molded plastics supports utilize more material than is required. The now well-known "Tuuk" blade, described in Canadian Patent 984,422 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,909, issued Feb. 21, 1978, to Hugh E. Baikie, comprises a shell defining two pedestals with the front pedestal covering most of the toe and forward metatarsal area of the sole while the rear pedestal covers all of the heel. A flange is required surrounding each pedestal to accommodate rivets in order to attach the blade support to the sole. Furthermore, a large "bridge" member extends longitudinally between the pedestals to substitute for the tube of a sheet metal support. Arches or cavities are provided to reduce the weight of this "bridge".
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,832, issued Jul. 6, 1976 to Alan F. Chambers, describe a molded plastics support which initiates the configuration of a sheet metal support. However, the molded plastics material does not have the strength characteristics of a sheet metal support in such a configuration. Furthermore, the pedestals of the skate described in Chambers are in-line and narrow, leaving a rather wide planar flange on either side of the pedestals. Such planar flanges, when made out of plastics, do not exhibit sufficient structural strength, especially in pronation-supination.